Reflect
by Shaun Garin
Summary: [Bleach AUverse] A tiny change at a pivotal moment can alter the universe. Multiple changes can reflect upon a single flap of a butterfly's wings.
1. Chapter 1

_Three days and each hollow has disappeared from my tracking programs…_

Kuchiki Rukia nibbled her thumbnail in thought as she stood, perched atop the lamppost to look over the glittering lights of Karakura Town. A small town on the western side of Tokyo prefect, reports from that area of the world noted a steady decline in the amount of hollow activity for roughly ten years. In the last three, the overall percentage of hollow activity hit an all time low, leading Soul Society to believe there was an outside force eliminating the hollows; miko or even Quincy perhaps.

Reaching into her black hakama, Rukia flipped the cellular phone open to display a map where a blinking light and arrow flashed on it. "Another hollow."

Taking off from the lamppost, she skipped across building and air alike, making good time towards the hollow when it suddenly stopped broadcasting a signal.

Scowling down at the device, she continued on her way, coming to a stop on top of a roof where the unmistakable remains of a hollow battle could be seen; a few upturned trees and a crater here and there where a large body or perhaps the hollow itself landed hard.

"No doubt about it; it was definitely here." Rukia heaved a sigh. Three days with hollow signals mysteriously disappearing and no definite answer from Soul Society. She was about to leap off when she caught a snippet of a conversation from the tree-line.

"… if you weren't so eager… might have been killed…"

Silently Rukia slipped in between the trees to peer around the trunk of a large tree at an unusual sight of a little girl with brown hair tending to a older teenager with orange hair. Next to him stood a boy in Quincy battle robes, his hands bandaged up, possibly from a previous fight. "Troublesome," said the Quincy, "the way you keep running into battle Ichigo."

'Ichigo' snorted derisively, and Rukia noted the etched scowl on his face. "I had it, Ishida," he said as the girl tied off the last of the bandages.

"I still can't believe you got hurt by a simple Hollow Ichi-nii," chastised the little girl, making Rukia frown. The girl was spiritually aware? "Mou, Ishida-kun, you need to keep a better eye on Ichi-nii, especially since back up is on the other side of town."

"Sorry, Yuzu-chan," said Ishida, embarrassed by his oversight. "I'll do a better job covering Ichigo."

Suddenly Yuzu's head snapped up and Rukia pulled behind the tree. "What's wrong?" asked Ichigo. "Yuzu?"

"Uh… nothing. I thought I felt something."

_The girl is very perceptive. She's also lying: I'm sure she saw me._

"C'mon Ichigo," sighed Ishida, grabbing Ichigo by the arm and hauling him up. "Let's get back before Yuuko-san gets us doing MORE things for Urahara-san."

Rukia's eyes widened. The first name she didn't recognise but the second was notorious: Kisuke Urahara. There was only one person who bore that name outside of Soul Society and it was the exiled Shinigami Captain.

There was a rustle of branches and Rukia peered out, only to see falling leaves and three people disappearing into the sunset. "Shunpo?!" gasped Rukia.

* * *

Reflect

Written by Shaun Garin

* * *

_There is no such thing as random occurrence - only hitsuzen_

* * *

It took Rukia another day to track down the boy with orange hair and another to find a point of entry in the strangely warded building. Somehow, someone had warded the Kurosaki home with seals that would prevent entry of anything not keyed to the wards.

The Kurosaki's (according to the small mailbox on the front of their home), were a close-knit family as far as Rukia could note. There were three children, the little brown haired Yuzu, the dark haired Karin and the orange-haired Ichigo, the mother Masaki who worked in the clinic with the father Isshin.

There were many people who came and went from the Kurosaki household at all different times, and they were never the same people twice. Two girls, one flighty and orange-brown haired, the other dark haired but both carried themselves like trained warriors… until the orange haired girl tripped and landed bust-first into the road.

Two boys, one brown haired and one black haired and shorter than the other. Ichigo refered to them as Keigo and Mizuiro. They both emitted strange power, similar to a shinigami's energies but much less focused.

Two more arrived later in the day; a massive dusky-skinned brown haired boy or man who they called Chad, and the Quincy in normal dress. They called him Ishida, presumably his last name. The towering dark skinned boy spoke little, as did the Quincy, but both of them were friends with the entire family.

Finally, and Rukia would have missed it if she wasn't paying attention, a black cat slipped through the bedroom window.

It seemed that Ichigo and his family were entertaining people, and soon, one by one, they left for the night when the evening wore to a thin dusk.

"I'm going to take out the trash honey!" crowed Isshin, startling Rukia out of her reverie and she pressed herself against the building. Within minutes, Isshin walked out, humming a tuneless song as he dumped the trash into the waste bin. Then, for a brief moment, Rukia could have SWORN he looked right at her.

Hours passed and Rukia was getting bored, looking over the house when her cell phone beeped. _Finally,_ she thought to herself, relieved that there was something to do. But before she could move, a window opened and Rukia flattened herself against the building.

From it, a sleepy voice filtered through it. "Nee, Yuzu, is it one?"

"Yeah," said the voice of the littlest. "Feels tough though."

"Should we wake Ichi-nii?"

"No, I can handle it. Go ahead and sleep Karin-chan."

"… k…"

The window opened fully and out slipped the tiny form of the youngest of the Kurosakis. Rukia blinked as Yuzu literally leapt to the next roof, down to the retaining wall and ran across it, clad in her teddy-bear pyjamas and bathrobe.

Right. For. The. Hollow.

Cursing, Rukia took off after the surprisingly fast girl. Rounding the corner, Rukia swore. It was a massive hollow, its big white head dwarfing its pitifully small reptilian body. But the little girl stood her ground even though it bellowed a war cry in challenge.

"Get away!" snapped Rukia, unsheathing Sode no Shirayuki and leapt at the hollow. The hollow whipped its tail at her and Rukia sliced it off, only to get a fist to the stomach. Flying backwards, a pair of arms caught her around the middle and Rukia fought the grip a second before a warm voice belonging to the dark haired girl tickled her ear.

"Oi, whatcha thinking going in here without backup?" admonished Arisawa Tatsuki who was dressed in a sleeveless shirt and shorts. Letting Rukia go, she turned to Yuzu and called out, "Yuzu-chan, finish it off already: some of us are getting tired. I have a test tomorrow."

"Sure," said Yuzu and Rukia scowled.

"You can't stop that thing without a zanpakutou…" started Rukia, but she didn't even get past 'can't' before Yuzu reached into her _chest_ and drew a long blade; a katana that shimmered in the moonlight. The sound of rushing water accompanied it and Rukia's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. "Wha…?"

"Shower, Lluvia sobre la Luna…" whispered Yuzu. Immediately water fell from the sky and the hollow cried out in pain as it was literally eaten away by the attack. Slowly, painfully it tried to lumber out of the area of effect, but Tatsuki shot forward, ploughing a kick into its face. The hollow reeled back into the storm which became a torrent of water, like a localized typhoon. There was one last pained howl and moonlight sprung from the earth, dissolving the rest of the creature.

"Well, that's that," said Tatsuki, wiping her sneakers on the grass. "You're getting faster Yuzu-chan."

Yuzu blushed. "Ano, I'm not that good yet. Not as fast as Ichi-nii or Karin-chan."

Tatsuki rubbed the girls' head before she turned towards Rukia, eyebrow upraised. "You're a new face around here."

"Kuchiki Rukia, Thirteenth Division of the Gotei-13." said Rukia, a little stiffly.

"Maa, you're so uptight," shrugged Tatsuki. "I'm Arisawa Tatsuki, and this is Kurosaki Yuzu. Just as a fair warning, you'll be seeing a lot of us around Karakura Town. Call us the town exorcists."

"Very well…" Rukia turned to look at Yuzu, eyeing the sword in her hands. "That blade… it's a zanpakutou, is it not?"

"Uh, yes it is," said Yuzu, a little nervously.

"And it's name… Lluvia sobre la Luna was it?" Rukia said, stumbling a little over the unfamiliar name. "I admit I have not seen a pure water type up close before. Tell me; how did you fight within your gigai? I was unaware that a team of Shinigami were here, much less skilled enough to fight without releasing."

"Er…" stammered Yuzu.

"Oi oi, it's getting late. Yuzu'll explain everything tomorrow. Why don't we head back there Rukia-san, and we'll let you rest for the night."

Rukia nodded. "One night. And then I require answers."

* * *

Rukia's morning began with a crash, smash and bang as Isshin drop-kicked Ichigo in the face, or at least attempted to do so. Wiping away sleep from her eyes and wincing as she had slept on Sode no Shirayuki, Rukia slowly came back to awareness. Sitting up, she noticed that a thick blanket had been placed on her during the night. "Oh, you're awake," chimed in the lilting alto of Kurosaki Masaki, Isshin's wife. "Rukia-chan, was it? Welcome to our home."

Rukia blinked rapidly. WHEN did she fall asleep on a human couch? For that matter, HOW did this woman see her? "Er… thank you for your hospitality," said Rukia, bowing from her seated position awkwardly.

"Maa, it's all right," giggled Masaki. "Isshin-chan, our guest is awake!"

There was a thunderous noise of stampeding feet from the upstairs bedroom and a scruffy man in a loud shirt skidded to a halt. "AH HA!" bellowed Isshin, "I see, I see. Welcome to our home Shinigami-chan!"

Rukia shook the ringing daze from her ears out. "Er, it's Rukia. Kuchiki Rukia."

"Ah ha, Rukia-chan then," grinned Isshin. "Kurosaki Isshin. This is my lovely wife Masaki, and my two girls are upstairs; you met Yuzu last night and Karin is in the bathroom. ICHIGO! OI!"

"What old man?" asked Ichigo, sticking his head downstairs, only to pull back as Isshin tried to spin-kick him. "WHAT?"

"Come say hello to our guest," said Isshin, clapping Rukia on the shoulder like he had seen Shinigami all the time. "Rukia-chan, this is Ichigo, our eldest."

"How do you do," muttered Ichigo. "Hey old man, Okaasan, I'm heading to school early."

"Maa, Ichigo-chan you need to eat first," chided Masaki. "You know how hungry you get all the time."

"Eh, it's okay, Tatsuki has a granola bar for me. Ishida called me while I was upstairs: said there was a hollow or three near the docks."

Rukia's eyebrows shot up in surprise at the casual talk of hollows in the area. "I must go," said Rukia, getting up.

"Maa, you need breakfast young lady," said Masaki in a tone that broke no argument.

"But…!" Flabbergasted, Rukia was lead to the breakfast table, Masaki taking her zanpakutou from her hands and setting it on a too-conveniently placed sword rack.

"You too, Ichigo-chan." Ichigo froze at the door and sighed, returning to the table. "Let Ishida know to take Sado-kun or Orihime-chan with him. Kami-sama only knows Yoruichi-san has been trying to get that girl to fight a little more."

"Orihime isn't that bad," grumbled Ichigo over his breakfast of rice and fish. "She's a black belt in regular martial arts and one only knows what she, Tatsuki and Yoruichi-san get up to during training."

"Morning," yawned Karin, stumbling down the stairs in a too-large sports shirt with 00 across the chest. "This the guest Yuzu brought home?"

Rukia nodded politely. "Kuchiki Rukia, nice to meet you."

"Mmm, she's not bad," eyed Karin, yawning a little wider. "Hey, Ichi-nii, you planning on showing her around town?"

"Um… later maybe?" replied Ichigo, a little caught off guard by the left fielded question. "We've got training this afternoon and I think Keigo nearly got his fully formed yesterday."

"That's good news then," said Isshin, sitting down as well. Yuzu came thundering down the stairs, dropping into her chair with a "good morning". "Keigo's power is almost fully formed. I'll be interested to see how it fully manifests."

"Tch, you just want to see another Shinigami so you can send them to sandal-hat," grumbled Ichigo.

"You know it was for your own good, boy!" snapped Isshin. "I did my best to get you to even hear Zangetsu's name, and you took such a long time. Feel lucky Kisuke is nice enough to even put you through the Bankai training."

Rukia speared a fish a little too hard. "WHAT?!" she exclaimed.

"What what?" inquired Ichigo, mouth full of rice.

"Bankai training… just who are you people?" exclaimed Rukia, her nerves frayed from the multiple shocks in a row.

"Oi, Yuzu-chan, you didn't tell her who we are, did you?" muttered Karin. "She looks like how Tatsuki did when we introduced her to Yoruichi-sensei."

"Sorry, I overlooked that," said Yuzu, ducking her head in shame.

"Let's start at the beginning then," said Masaki and Rukia relaxed a little. "We're the Kurosakis. This is my husband Isshin, or as you know him Captain Isshin Kurosaki from over twenty years ago."

Rukia looked over at Isshin who grinned, waving a hand. Her chopsticks broke and she stammered out, "Captain Kurosaki?!"

"And these are our children, Ichigo, Karin and Yuzu."

"Children…?" Rukia felt a little weak.

"Oh, and they all have shinigami powers too," added Masaki cheerfully. "It comes from their father."

Rukia felt her mind shutting down. "Er… you were saying bankai training a minute ago… none of you have it… do you?"

As one, everyone pointed to Yuzu and Isshin raised his hand. "Technically I haven't used mine in ages, but darling Yuzu has had hers since she was little."

Rukia looked at Yuzu, then at Ichigo and then Karin. "And you two?"

"Shikai," the pair chorused. "Though I'm close to Bankai," added Karin. "Ichi-nii is something of a slow learner."

"Oi!" protested Ichigo.

Rukia's brain decided it had enough and she passed out in her chair.


	2. Chapter 2

"… and THEN she goes and sends me out, fully knowing that there was a seventy percent chance of me getting maimed and a fifty percent chance of me getting eaten!"

Inoue Orihime blinked as she looked over at her companion, Watanuki Kimihiro, who was in Full Rant Mode ™. Watanuki's arms, even as burdened down with the purchases for Yuuko and Orihime's own (which he insisted on carrying), were waving around like some kind of fluttery madman in a clearly agitated state. "Ano, Kimihiro-kun, seventy plus fifty adds up to one hundred and twenty percent."

Watanuki scowled. "There was about a twenty percent crossover chance that I would get maimed AND eaten."

"Oh. But you survived it anyhow, sort of like beating the odds by transforming into a giant robot with steel for arms!" proclaimed Orihime, making electronic robot motions and buzzing while swinging her arms around like pinwheels.

Watanuki blinked, still a tiny bit unused to the randomness of the girl, but shrugged it off. "Er, yeah. Sort of like that." Weighting the packages in his hands, he added "shouldn't we be getting back to Yuuko-san's place?"

"Hmm, I guess I'm done shopping for the day," said Orihime thoughtfully. "I've picked up whole wheat bread, red bean paste, leeks, spam and marmalade."

_What the HECK is she going to make with that?_ exclaimed Watanuki but otherwise did not voice the thought, for worry he was going to offend his companion.

"Ne, Kimihiro-kun, let's shunpo the way back to Yuuko-sensei's home!"

Watanuki grimaced. "You know shunpo is what I do the wor-- hey!" Watanuki groaned as Orihime took off, vanishing from sight. With a deep sigh, and reinforcing his grip on the numerous bags, Watanuki took off after Orihime, the pair flash-stepping in and out of the crowds who only felt a strong breeze. Once or twice Watanuki nearly tripped over someone, paused to excuse himself and then took off again.

* * *

Reflect

Written by Shaun Garin

* * *

_Thinking of you wherever you are…_

* * *

"BASE!" proclaimed Orihime cheerfully, slapping a hand on the solid black fence that surrounded Yuuko's store. A moment later, Watanuki appeared, completely out of breath as he sunk to his knees. "Eh? Kimihiro-kun, are you okay?"

"Just… a little… out of breath," panted Watanuki.

"Aaah, I'm sorry, I forgot that you're not too good at shunpo," giggled Orihime as she let herself into Yuuko's store. "Tadaima!"

"Hime-chan is back, Hime-chan is back!" proclaimed the twinned beings known as Maru and Moro as they danced around happily. The cute black marshmallow known as Mokona leapt to Orhime's arms as she hugged it to her chest.

"You're back," greeted Yuuko as she took in Watanuki's exhausted being and Orihime's still-non-winded person. "Watanuki, did you get what I asked for?"

"Yes, I did," said Watanuki, straightening up as he pulled out a bottle of Ishikawa Brew. Yuuko snagged it and did a little happy dance, Mokona cheering from Orhime's arms "Sake, Sake!"

"I don't see what's so special about this Sake," grumbled Watanuki as he wandered over to the kitchen to store the rest of the perishables in the cavernous-like freezer.

Settling down with a thump on her plush divan, Yuuko patted the end, signalling Orihime to sit down with her. "Awww, my cute student," gushed Yuuko, nuzzling Orhime who giggled, embarrassed. "So, how many hollows did you get?"

"Two," said Orihime.

"Two only?" exclaimed Yuuko in mock-surprise. "I thought you would have gotten more, since you two were out for the day."

"Ah, Kurosaki-kun is showing around the assigned Shinigami of this area, Kuchiki Rukia-san. That, and Ishida-kun was out on patrol with Yuzu-chan after school."

"Mmm, I had forgotten that it was Ishida-kun's turn to patrol," sighed Yuuko lazily, stretching her long legs over the divan and into Orihime's lap. "So then, how is the new girl?"

"She's scary," reported Watanuki with a shiver as he came out of the kitchen with some fresh sushi rolls. "So serious."

"Maa, I doubt she's that bad, just focused," said Orihime. "Kuchiki-san seemed pretty intent on doing her job."

"Most people in her family are," said Yuuko, tilting the end of the sake bottle to her lips and taking a short drink. Yuuko did not elaborate further.

* * *

"… I still say you shouldn't let a Quincy patrol for hollows," insisted Rukia. "They…"

"Interrupt the flow of souls from point a to point b, I know I know," grumbled Ichigo as he lead Rukia around the corner and towards the riverside. "But I trust Ishida with my LIFE. I trust his judgement."

"But his powers unbalance the cycle of souls. Even you must see how dangerous that is," added Rukia for the umpteenth time, getting the feeling she was arguing with a brick wall.

"Feh," 'feh'ed Ichigo. "Sandal-hat has a whole system of retrieval system worked out. Ishida tags them first with a special ofuda and then blasts them. Sandal-hat then sends Jinta or Ururu into the Valley of Screams to fish them out, and send them along their way to Soul Society. Simple."

A vein popped out on Rukia's forehead. "That's not simple at all, bakayarou!"

"It's never failed us in the past," shrugged Ichigo.

Just then, Rukia's cell phone bleeped and she pulled it out of her skirt pocket. "Hollow, just west of here."

Ichigo peered at it and clucked his tongue. "That's all the way in Tomoeda. I'm sure we'll hear about it from Sakura-chan later."

"Another friend of yours?" inquired Rukia as the signal abruptly terminated. Right then and there, Ichigo's cell phone rang and he flipped it open.

"Yo."

_Ichigo-kun, you have got to start picking these hollows up,_ muttered an annoyed feminine voice.

"Sorry, but there was no one close by. What about the assigned Shinigami for the district?"

A brief sigh. _The guy is pretty much useless. Syaoran-kun had to blast it. You know how much I hate ghosts._

"Didn't you go and see Yuuko-san about that?" inquired Ichigo.

_I DID. She asked for a later service rendered which means it's a time-release thing._

"I hate that. I'm still paying off my last debt to Yuuko-san," sighed Ichigo.

_In any case, I felt a new spiritual presence appear over there a few days ago. Another Shinigami?_

"Yeah, a little slip of a girl," smirked Ichigo, getting smacked upside the head by said petite woman. "Ow!"

_Sounds like she's quite the handful.__Bring her over sometime so we can talk shop._

"Right, right. I'll call you later, if our patrol goes into the district. See ya." Flicking off his cell, Ichigo pocketed it and gestured down the road. "C'mon, we're headed to Yuuko's place."

"Yuuko as in Ichihara Yuuko, the Witch of Dimensions?" inquired Rukia, placing the name. "Where on earth did you manage to meet up with her or get entangled with her plots?"

"She and sandal-hat go way back," said Ichigo as the pair waited for the lights to change. "Just be careful what you say around her cause she loves to inflict payment on any information that she 'hands out' for free later on."

As the light changed and the pair crossed the street, Ichigo lead Rukia down several streets until they came to a main road where large skyscrapers topped the area. There, nestled within a pair of silver buildings, a relatively large traditional store stood, surrounded by a black wall. "So this is the famous Ichihara Shop," said Rukia, running a hand across the wall. "There's so much spiritual energy emanating from the wall."

"Huh, you can see it before I point it out to you?" mused Ichigo. "You must want something from her then."

"What do you mean?"

"Only people who want something can see Yuuko's store without having to have it pointed out to them by a spiritually aware person," said Ichigo as he pushed the gate open, only to let a woman with a cloud of black smoke curling around her neck. "See that lady? She must have come to Yuuko's place for a wish of some kind, but obviously from the smoke that covers her body, you can tell that whatever issue she has will result in trouble for Watanuki later."

"Who's Watanuki? Her son?" inquired Rukia. Ichigo paused, blinked and then burst into a gut-laugh. "I didn't think that the question was THAT funny!"

"Definitely not her son," coughed Ichigo, straightening up. "Mind the door."

The gate slamming shut, Ichigo lead Rukia into the main room, pausing to remove his sneakers. "Oi!" he bellowed and suddenly, was tackled by Moro and Maru.

"Ichi-nii, Ichi-nii!" the pair chanted affectionately and Ichigo laughed, rubbing the pair on the head.

"Okay, okay you two, back off a little. Let the poor girl through; you're blocking the door." The pair pouted but allowed them to enter the room where Yuuko was fussing over Orihime for some reason or another. Ichigo privately believed that Yuuko just loved to cuddle Orihime in a way a girl would cuddle her favourite plush toy. "Hey, Yuuko."

"Ichigo-kun!" exclaimed Yuuko. "Give Yuuko-oneesan a hug!"

Rolling his eyes, Ichigo obediently went over and got grabbed in a hug. "Yuuko, choking, not breathing," gasped out Ichigo and the woman pouted before releasing him.

"And why aren't you even that friendly with me?" demanded Watanuki who had come out of the kitchen, bearing more snacks.

"Because you're her lackey," grinned Ichigo. Watanuki turned red but set down the food before he could crush the plate with the grip that was currently cracking the expensive porcelain. "Seriously Watanuki, her hugs break your spine."

"Oh poo, I wouldn't do that," scoffed Yuuko as she picked up her treat and devoured it in a gulp. "I'd just make them pop, that's all!" she added thickly through a mouthful of sweet.

"Spine pop, spine pop, yay, yay, yay!" chanted Mokona.

Rukia sidled up to Orihime and asked, "Are they ALWAYS like this? I've heard stories she's always drunk but…"

"Oh no, this is normal for Yuuko-san," giggled Orihime. "I'm Orihime Inoue. And you are?"

"Oh, uh, Kuchiki Rukia, Gotei 13. Nice to meet you Orihime-san." said Rukia politely.

"Nice to meet you too Rukia-san," smiled Orihime as she dug into the plastic bag that sat at her side. Retrieving a juice box, she held it up. "Want one? They're still cold."

Rukia took the box and inspected it. Turning it over, she pulled the straw free from the box and looked at it. "What's this for?"

"Oh silly, here! You just take the straw and unwrap it, and then poke it here into the box!" Orihime demonstrated with one of her own and Rukia copied it. Taking a tentative sip, Orihime was pleased to see the woman's expression light up. "Good huh?"

"Very good!" proclaimed Rukia. "What is this?"

"It's a juice box. People bring it for lunches if they don't want to bring a thermos to keep their drinks hot or cold." said Orihime.

"Huh. Interesting. This would make a fine addition to lunches in Soul Society."

As the girls spoke between each other, Yuuko patted the divan and Ichigo sat down. "So then, what do you think of Rukia?" inquired Yuuko.

"Serious at her work, definitely a bit of a fish out of water when it comes to working here in the real world. She's also fairly adamant about Ishida not patrolling…" Ichigo shrugged. "I think she's just giving it a try."

"Fair enough." Yuuko looked up into the distance and then Rukia's cell phone beeped. "Hollow. Several blocks away. Karin is there and Sado-kun is moving to assist."

"How can you tell that?" inquired Rukia, looking up from her dispatch orders.

Yuuko smiled and tapped the side of her nose. "I can smell it," she said mischievously.

Ichigo fished out his own cell phone and hit speed dial. Two rings later, the other end picked up just in time to hear the dying wail of a hollow. "Nothing fancy I guess?" inquired Ichigo.

_No. It is just a new one. A weakling that just converted over. Do not worry, your sister is safe._ Reported Yasutora Sado from the other end.

Sounds of fumbling could be heard as a younger feminine voice popped up. _We've got this covered Ichi-nii. Go back to whatever you're doing. This guy was so weak, I finished him off without even having to release Tsuchikiri. Sado punched it in the head and it dazed him long enough for me to cut it in half._

"All right, but don't stay out too late. You know how freaked out the old man gets when we're out late without reporting in." Ichigo shut off the cell. "It was a newbie. Didn't even need to release Tsuchikiri."

"Tsuchikiri?" echoed Rukia. "Earth-Mist? That's impossible; there's no possible way that a zanpakutou has more than one element to it."

"Tell me about it," scoffed Ichigo. "Sandal-hat thinks it's cause Karin was the second child, that she got a blend of elements between myself and Yuzu, but when she releases, it's a twin-zanpakutou."

"Those are awfully rare anyhow," remarked Orihime. "Right sensei?"

"Right again," said Yuuko, taking a moment to cuddle Orihime. "Twin zanpakutou are incredibly rare; almost as rare as the possibility of using two or more by the same shinigami. Ichigo-kun doesn't have the ability to do so, and Yuzu-chan uses the healing aspect of her sword more."

"And Karin?"

"She's all direct. Like Ichigo really," remarked Yuuko. "I have a suspicion that if she achieves Bankai, her sword will split into two aspects. Other than that, its all in the air." Yuuko grinned and held out a hand. "Payment in full."

"WOT?!" exclaimed Rukia and Ichigo face palmed.

"I'll cover for her," sighed Ichigo. "Rukia doesn't have anything save her zanpakutou and most shinigami would give their right arm instead of giving that up."

Yuuko pouted. "Fine, you can owe me for it later Ichigo."

"And THAT," proclaimed Ichigo to Rukia, "is why you never let Yuuko explain anything to you."

"… well… crap…" floundered Rukia, still off-balance from the demand for payment.


End file.
